Nintendo offers free Wi-Fi at McDonald's in US

Nintendo has signed with a Wi-Fi hotspot carrier in America that means its Nintendo DS users will be able to play wirelessly in nearly 6,000 McDonald's restaurants across the United States. Through the agreement with Wayport, Nintendo will offer complimentary access to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, the video game giant's new wireless gaming service that goes online Nov. 14.

"This agreement with Wayport will bring countless people together to play games in a single, simultaneous wireless community", says Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing. "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is simple to use. Beginning with free access at participating McDonald's, we have removed one of the major barriers that have kept people from going online to play games".

Gamers will be able to use the service to play games with other gamers like Mario Kart DS and Activision's Tony Hawk's American SK8Land.

When a user brings a Nintendo DS unit and a Wi-Fi-enabled game into a Wayport-enabled McDonald's, the user simply launches the game in Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection mode. No setup is required.

Detailed information about Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, as well as a list of participating Wayport/McDonald's hotspots, will be available soon at www.NintendoWiFi.com.

Stuart has been a tech journalist since 1998 and written for a number of publications around the world. Regularly turning up on television, radio and in newspapers, Stuart has played with virtually every gadget available.